Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves (The Three Crosses),

1653–55

Rembrandt’s genius as a printmaker is illustrated in his use of drypoint, which he began adding to his etchings in the 1640s. He was the first artist to fully exploit the dark velvety richness and painterly effects of drypoint, created by the inked burr, or metal residue, left by the fine lines scratched directly into the copperplate with a needle. In spite of the fragility of the burr, which wears down quickly with each impression, Rembrandt employed drypoint with increasing frequency, and almost exclusively in several masterpieces from the 1650s, including <em>The Three Crosses</em>. One of Rembrandt’s greatest works in any medium, this profound and powerful interpretation of Christ’s crucifixion ­underwent an unusually drastic conceptual and physical reworking, as represented in this impression of the fourth state. Rembrandt’s previous version of <em>The Three Crosses</em>, dated 1653 in the third state, depicts the moment of Christ’s death and the revelation of his divine nature, which, as described in Luke’s Gospel (23:44–8), occurred during the "darkness [that] fell over the whole land." Here, in the even darker and more pictorial fourth state, Rembrandt vigorously scraped away and burnished large portions of the plate, changing some of the bystanders and altering Christ’s facial expression so that now he is shown suffering on the cross before his death — at the moment when, according to Matthew (27:45–46), he cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Using the burin, or engraving tool, in conjunction with drypoint, Rembrandt obscures much of the anecdotal incident with a driving black rain of long slanting strokes, heightening the violent contrasts in illumination. Vast, apocalyptic beams of light pierce the leaden sky, falling on the crucified Christ — the emotional and compositional focus of the scene.